We tried to go for a Chinese but found that the one we had chosen (Swan) had stupidly (about 10 quid) expensive main courses…so we popped next door to the George and Dragon, which is an old Englidh George and Dragon pub. No pictures of dogs playing snooker though…
I have, though, remembered the main reason for this particular entry…the Spanish. From Knifeboy in Arequipa to psychosexual policeman in Madrid we have been singularly unimpressed with the Spanish…I am afraid that Barcelona has just confirmed everything we thought. They are the most arrogant, self centred, lacking in
spatial awareness, group of cretins we have ever met…OK so picture the scene you are walking down a street and you bump into someone you’ve never met before with more force than is required to uproot trees…what do you do a) walk away with your head down looking ashamed; b) say sorry (a hundred times) and offer to pay some form of compensation or c) turn round, glare at the person you just hit, implying they were in the worng, and then cock your head arrogantly before tutting and walking off.
If you answered a) you are normal. If you answered b) you are Biritsh, and ifyou answered c) well, I guess you know the rest… We have been bumped, cajoled, and almost rugby tackled by so many Spaniards now that I have genuinely started to believe they were all born with a complete lack of spatial awareness and they don’t even realise when they are nearly decapitating their fellow man. It got so bad on the metro today that we took it in turns to ‘tread on a Spaniards foot’, and barge them all out of the way. So there we have it…a year away and the prize for the rudest, least accommodating, most spatially unaware people…the Spanish. At this point I do want to say that our theory about there being nice people and complete arseholes from every country still rings true, as we met Pilar on the Galapagos boat and she was lovely.
Wednesday, December 31, 2003
Tuesday, December 30, 2003
Pat, Mum and Ken arrived a couple of days ago and we spent most of Sunday just walking around town. The most amazing sight was the sheer number of people milling around a town centre that was completely closed. It was almost like watching 10,000 people turn up at the Trafford Centre on a Tuesday, at 4am.
Literally everything was closed, all the big shops, even bars and eateries. We can only imagine how strong the Spanish economy is that they turn down footfall like this. On Sunday night Mum and Ken treated us all to a lovely meal at their hotel and we came up with a plan for Monday and Tuesday…
Monday started with an amble down La Rambla and a visit to the local produce market. It was a good fun way to start the day even if the local McDonalds didn’t stock breakfast items…we finished the morning with a trip to the Dali museum, which was well laid out but disappointing as nearly all the exhibits were prints not originals, it was expensive (8 Euros, about 6 quid) and their was little or no explanation of any of the exhibits or photos accompanying them. After lunch at the Hard Rock Café (fantastically lardy) we headed to the Palace of Catalan Music which was fully booked for the day before wandering round the Barri Gothic for an hour or so. We eventually found a cafe and stopped for a drink before we had our own siesta. In the evening we managed to find a semi-decent tapas bar and indulged. Afterwards myself and Pat went to the airport to pick Verity, Pat’s friend, up. Her plane was delayed by nearly 40 minutes and by the time we got back to Plaza de Catalunya (midnightish) we were all too tired to sit in a bar so they headed back to their hotel, and me to mine…
We were up early on Tuesday and met up at La Sagrida Familia, Gaudi’s work in progress. There is some conjecture as to whether they ever want to finish it (work started some 130 years ago) as it is almost as famous for being a building site. What is complete is spectacular, and the views over the city from one of the towers equally so. It is due for completion in around another 25 years, but if the complete lack of activity today is anything to go by it will take considerably longer.
Second up on our second day’s touring was to be the Picasso Museum, but with the queue seemingly endless we decided to give it a miss, maybe manana…We headed to the chocolate museum only to find it was closed on Tuesdays, so instead headed to El Xampanyet, one of the ‘’best Cava bars in town where they well and truly ripped us off. We had a drink each and about 4 plates full of tapas and they charge us over 40 Euros…when I tried to ask him to explain, the prices he charged us showed no correlation to the ones on his price list, so we left more than a little miffed at the ‘tourist tax’ we’d just paid. The afternoon was much more fun though as we took a trip out on the cable car and over to the Olympic Stadium and surrounds. The cable car itself gives you a great view (at the end) of the port, which is nice if you are a ship-spotter but not great if you’re not. Barcelona is the exact opposite of Rio. You get up high and the city looks horrible, all highrise with no character, but at street level the architecture is a joy to behold, paradoxically, Rio is the most beautiful city in the world when seen from Sugar Loaf, but up close it is a hole.
The Olympic Stadium and surrounds, whilst not as spectacular or well kept as Sydney, was an interesting detour, and made you realise once again why London should never win the bid – there just simply isn’t enough room or infrastructure in the English Capital. Rachel and Sandeep arrive tomorrow so 6 will soon be 8…
Literally everything was closed, all the big shops, even bars and eateries. We can only imagine how strong the Spanish economy is that they turn down footfall like this. On Sunday night Mum and Ken treated us all to a lovely meal at their hotel and we came up with a plan for Monday and Tuesday…
Monday started with an amble down La Rambla and a visit to the local produce market. It was a good fun way to start the day even if the local McDonalds didn’t stock breakfast items…we finished the morning with a trip to the Dali museum, which was well laid out but disappointing as nearly all the exhibits were prints not originals, it was expensive (8 Euros, about 6 quid) and their was little or no explanation of any of the exhibits or photos accompanying them. After lunch at the Hard Rock Café (fantastically lardy) we headed to the Palace of Catalan Music which was fully booked for the day before wandering round the Barri Gothic for an hour or so. We eventually found a cafe and stopped for a drink before we had our own siesta. In the evening we managed to find a semi-decent tapas bar and indulged. Afterwards myself and Pat went to the airport to pick Verity, Pat’s friend, up. Her plane was delayed by nearly 40 minutes and by the time we got back to Plaza de Catalunya (midnightish) we were all too tired to sit in a bar so they headed back to their hotel, and me to mine…
We were up early on Tuesday and met up at La Sagrida Familia, Gaudi’s work in progress. There is some conjecture as to whether they ever want to finish it (work started some 130 years ago) as it is almost as famous for being a building site. What is complete is spectacular, and the views over the city from one of the towers equally so. It is due for completion in around another 25 years, but if the complete lack of activity today is anything to go by it will take considerably longer.
Second up on our second day’s touring was to be the Picasso Museum, but with the queue seemingly endless we decided to give it a miss, maybe manana…We headed to the chocolate museum only to find it was closed on Tuesdays, so instead headed to El Xampanyet, one of the ‘’best Cava bars in town where they well and truly ripped us off. We had a drink each and about 4 plates full of tapas and they charge us over 40 Euros…when I tried to ask him to explain, the prices he charged us showed no correlation to the ones on his price list, so we left more than a little miffed at the ‘tourist tax’ we’d just paid. The afternoon was much more fun though as we took a trip out on the cable car and over to the Olympic Stadium and surrounds. The cable car itself gives you a great view (at the end) of the port, which is nice if you are a ship-spotter but not great if you’re not. Barcelona is the exact opposite of Rio. You get up high and the city looks horrible, all highrise with no character, but at street level the architecture is a joy to behold, paradoxically, Rio is the most beautiful city in the world when seen from Sugar Loaf, but up close it is a hole.
The Olympic Stadium and surrounds, whilst not as spectacular or well kept as Sydney, was an interesting detour, and made you realise once again why London should never win the bid – there just simply isn’t enough room or infrastructure in the English Capital. Rachel and Sandeep arrive tomorrow so 6 will soon be 8…
Saturday, December 27, 2003
So here we are again, back on the road. BMIBaby were excellent, and we arrived on time in Barca. By the time we'd grabbed our ludicrously heavy (30KG) suitcase from the baggage reclaim and jumped in and out of a cab it was 11.30ish and we were fast asleep by…er…11.31 (ish).
Although it looks a bit dodgy on the outside inside Hostal Goya is really nice even though we’re paying a night what we were for a week in South America and Asia. It doesn’t have a telly in the room though which is a bit of a pain in the arse.
On first sight Barcelona is very similar to Paris, all boulevards and balconies (I seem to remember saying that about somewhere else ;) ). It’s also busy and full of rude people who barge in front of you/trip you up without even an apology. The city itself though is beautiful, and we have spent most of today (after Jen’s ridiculous 12.30 lie-in) wandering round soaking it all in. We have raided our wardrobe from home and don’t feel like scummy travellers any more, having worn the same clothes for the last 11 months you have no idea how nice it is to put on a Paul Smith or Ted Baker shirt again, especially as they seem to fit better than when we went away in January.
We walked down the famous Las Ramblas, which is reminiscent of the Champs Elysees, but it has a pedestrian walkway in the middle, sorely lacking in Paris where if you so much as step foot on a road you are likely to be, at best, maimed by a passing 2CV. It had it’s fair share of those weirdos who cover themselves in silver/gold or dress as an ape and then expect money for doing nothing. In my mind they have taken over from clowns as chief nightmare givers to young children. There were a couple of those 3-matchbox/pea con-artists and it was good fun to watch them con a few gullible Americans…
We eventually pitched up at the museum of erotica, which was quite interesting. Having previously visited the one in Copenhagen last year, which was effectively 4 floors of hard-core porn we were expecting much more of the same but instead got an interesting view of erotica through the ages. It was almost educational (!) and was an interesting way to spend half an hour or so. The best bit was definitely the cinema where they showed movies from the early 20th century that were almost like some sort of bad comedy porn. The actors were all fat with bad facial hair, and that was just the women. Although it was quite amusing there was something intriguing in the naivety and naturalness of it all, a far cry from the silicone-enhanced splatter-fests of the 21st century.
Our tour of the Barri Gothic took us past the Cathedral that, unfortunately, is covered in green mesh at the moment. You could just about make out the beauty of it behind the renovations. We will be going inside for a look around in the forthcoming days.
Although it looks a bit dodgy on the outside inside Hostal Goya is really nice even though we’re paying a night what we were for a week in South America and Asia. It doesn’t have a telly in the room though which is a bit of a pain in the arse.
On first sight Barcelona is very similar to Paris, all boulevards and balconies (I seem to remember saying that about somewhere else ;) ). It’s also busy and full of rude people who barge in front of you/trip you up without even an apology. The city itself though is beautiful, and we have spent most of today (after Jen’s ridiculous 12.30 lie-in) wandering round soaking it all in. We have raided our wardrobe from home and don’t feel like scummy travellers any more, having worn the same clothes for the last 11 months you have no idea how nice it is to put on a Paul Smith or Ted Baker shirt again, especially as they seem to fit better than when we went away in January.
We walked down the famous Las Ramblas, which is reminiscent of the Champs Elysees, but it has a pedestrian walkway in the middle, sorely lacking in Paris where if you so much as step foot on a road you are likely to be, at best, maimed by a passing 2CV. It had it’s fair share of those weirdos who cover themselves in silver/gold or dress as an ape and then expect money for doing nothing. In my mind they have taken over from clowns as chief nightmare givers to young children. There were a couple of those 3-matchbox/pea con-artists and it was good fun to watch them con a few gullible Americans…
We eventually pitched up at the museum of erotica, which was quite interesting. Having previously visited the one in Copenhagen last year, which was effectively 4 floors of hard-core porn we were expecting much more of the same but instead got an interesting view of erotica through the ages. It was almost educational (!) and was an interesting way to spend half an hour or so. The best bit was definitely the cinema where they showed movies from the early 20th century that were almost like some sort of bad comedy porn. The actors were all fat with bad facial hair, and that was just the women. Although it was quite amusing there was something intriguing in the naivety and naturalness of it all, a far cry from the silicone-enhanced splatter-fests of the 21st century.
Our tour of the Barri Gothic took us past the Cathedral that, unfortunately, is covered in green mesh at the moment. You could just about make out the beauty of it behind the renovations. We will be going inside for a look around in the forthcoming days.
Sunday, December 21, 2003
It's amazing the difference a few days makes. First up we had a couple of days relaxing chez Lynn (Jen's Mum) who fed us up in considerable style. She even did us a roast dinner on a Wednesday...We found out one of the best things about being away. I have lost nearly a stone and a half (10 kilos) and Jen has lost half a stone. Although these measurements were taken pre stay at Lynn's.
We are now back in our house and have spent a couple of days sorting through things. Although nothing from the loft has been pinched we are minus a desk and were minus a Sky Receiver too until one of the tenants remembered it was 'in a cupboard'. Not sure why he put new batteries in the remote control if it was in a cupboard...never mind we've got it now but don't have any telly as we're awaiting a new viewing card. There is also a massive red-wine-esque stain on one of the carpets and one of the curtain tracks is broken. Apart from that the house (and neighbours) are all in good nick.
My brother stayed overnight on Friday and we went for a couple of pints, it seems he is the only person in the world who has had more happen to him in 6 months than we have, but I'll leave it up to him to tell you all about it!!
At the moment it's great to be home, although we really enjoyed our time away we were ready for PS2s, CDs, and wide screen tellies again, oh but the weather, Christ it hasn't got above 1 degree yet...
We are now back in our house and have spent a couple of days sorting through things. Although nothing from the loft has been pinched we are minus a desk and were minus a Sky Receiver too until one of the tenants remembered it was 'in a cupboard'. Not sure why he put new batteries in the remote control if it was in a cupboard...never mind we've got it now but don't have any telly as we're awaiting a new viewing card. There is also a massive red-wine-esque stain on one of the carpets and one of the curtain tracks is broken. Apart from that the house (and neighbours) are all in good nick.
My brother stayed overnight on Friday and we went for a couple of pints, it seems he is the only person in the world who has had more happen to him in 6 months than we have, but I'll leave it up to him to tell you all about it!!
At the moment it's great to be home, although we really enjoyed our time away we were ready for PS2s, CDs, and wide screen tellies again, oh but the weather, Christ it hasn't got above 1 degree yet...
Wednesday, December 17, 2003
And so here we are, some 11 months (and 3 days!) on. We have just had a lovely night's sleep and a bacon and egg roll for breakfast. The journey back wasn't without incident however, oh no siree! We arrived at Madrid after our 14 hour flight from Quito (stopover for 2 1/2 hours in Guayaquil) only to be confronted by the police from hell scanning all bags as you enter the country. We tried to explain that our hard drive had been corrupted once by a scanner in an airport so could we please show you that it works and be on our merry way. Oh no, said Mr. Police Brutality 2003/4 it has to go through. After a few minutes, realising if we didn't we would either lose the hard drive or not be allowed to get our connection, we relented and he couldn't wipe the smug grin on his face as he said 'we are the best police force in the world, and we never let anything through' at which point I eplained (in hindsight somewhat foolishly) that he hadn't scanned either our cellphone or the medicine Jen was carrying so they couldn't be that good (or words to that effect)...and he snapped...he grabbed my passport and bundled me into a room (leaving Jen in the corridor) and told me to take my cap off (bizarrely enough...at this point I thought I was about to hear the twang of rubber gloves being put on) and sit down. He then proceeded to shout at me in Spanish for about 5 minutes the gist of which was 'I am God, you do what I say, I can make you miss your flight, I'm still having pshychosexual problems due to my incredibly small member, and thus feel the need to shout and bawl at members of the public' that kinda thing. I then tried to explain why I had kicked up a fuss and he would only let me do thisin Spanish. Oh how hilarious it would have been for an outsider to hear me going on about 'el hard-drive a corrupto, kaput' that kind of thing. At one point I swear I managed to use 4 languages in one sentence ('Je suis mas fatigue, me hard-drive es kaput'). Eventually he let me go, without any internal examination I hasten to add, and we were on our way. Jen mumbled somethign about police brutality and we should complain, I thought better of it, and decided descretion and all that...and kept me head down until the connection to Barcelona. From Barca we had a 6 hour wait at their incredibly scruffy airport. We couldn't decide what the issue was, as there was srcaps of newspaper allover the floor, everywhere. Either someone had strong feelings about the press, or it was some kind of bizarre new Xmas decoration. The fcat of the matter was though that the cleaners were on strike and had obviously come in late at night and covered the floor with the news.
So eventually, after some 28 hours traveling, we made it back to East Midlands airport (via BMIBABY who were excellent) to be greeted by Lynn, Richard, and Rachel - a welcome sight. As we made it to the car it was clear one other special person had come to see us - OSCAR! I opened the boot of the car and he jumped on me, seemingly having saved a years worth of licks. He seemed to remember us (good start) and came and sat at our feet when we sat in the lounge last night.
We have had the best nights sleep for ages, no noisy neighbours, no worrying about stuff going missing, no having to get up to check out...and I slept through until midday (!) and had the best tastign bacon and egg sandwich I have ever had for lunch. Our plan is to sort stuff out here in Nottingham (we have sent an incredible amount of stuff back - at least 11/12 boxes) and then head over to Glosspo for a few days before coming back to Nottingham for Xmas day. We fly to Barca to meet up with my mum and step-dad (and brother and Rachel & Sandeep, but we're seeing them in England first) on boxing day. They arrive on 28th...here's hoping the cops in Barca are better (endowed?) than Madrid...
So eventually, after some 28 hours traveling, we made it back to East Midlands airport (via BMIBABY who were excellent) to be greeted by Lynn, Richard, and Rachel - a welcome sight. As we made it to the car it was clear one other special person had come to see us - OSCAR! I opened the boot of the car and he jumped on me, seemingly having saved a years worth of licks. He seemed to remember us (good start) and came and sat at our feet when we sat in the lounge last night.
We have had the best nights sleep for ages, no noisy neighbours, no worrying about stuff going missing, no having to get up to check out...and I slept through until midday (!) and had the best tastign bacon and egg sandwich I have ever had for lunch. Our plan is to sort stuff out here in Nottingham (we have sent an incredible amount of stuff back - at least 11/12 boxes) and then head over to Glosspo for a few days before coming back to Nottingham for Xmas day. We fly to Barca to meet up with my mum and step-dad (and brother and Rachel & Sandeep, but we're seeing them in England first) on boxing day. They arrive on 28th...here's hoping the cops in Barca are better (endowed?) than Madrid...
Monday, December 15, 2003
OK we´ve changed our flights and are on our way home...bit of a shock really to think we´ll be in the UK in some 40 hours. We couldn´t change our final Barca to Manc flight (the original one that meant we couldn´t get home for Xmas) so have bought a return with BMIBaby from Barca to EMA and back, we will still have New Year in Barca with my parents, borther and Jen´s sister as planned.
We have changed our plans for a few reasons...
We are tired, and more importantly tired of travelling and the hassle associated.
Both of us feel a bit under the weather.
We´ve just had the best week of the trip - it´s nice to go out on a high!
We´ve run out of cash (the flights were so cheap they amount to about 4 night´s accomodation in Madrid)
Jen´s Mum´s cooking.
We have changed our plans for a few reasons...
We are tired, and more importantly tired of travelling and the hassle associated.
Both of us feel a bit under the weather.
We´ve just had the best week of the trip - it´s nice to go out on a high!
We´ve run out of cash (the flights were so cheap they amount to about 4 night´s accomodation in Madrid)
Jen´s Mum´s cooking.
Sunday, December 14, 2003
Piccie time, there are far too many to title them so, after a few jungle pics it`s the wildlife of the Galapagos...by the way my last bloody card has just currupted meaning the cutest of the cute seals and the Frigatebird piccies are lost forever...
GALAPAGOS
Saved my fave 2 for last - yes that is a hammerhead...big isn`t it!
GALAPAGOS
Saved my fave 2 for last - yes that is a hammerhead...big isn`t it!
So we`re back...we`ve just arrived in Quito, after the flight back from the Galapagos, and what a final few days we had! Wednesday seems likes a lifetime away now but that`s where I left it so that`s where I`ll start. We started Wednesday near Puerto Ayora (Santa Cruz) with a dive at Loberia, although the sea was rough we had a good dive and saw rays, turtles and sealions...still no sign of the elusive hammerhead though. On the way back onto the boat my mask got trapped between boat and dinghy and my mask shattered into a thousand pieces, glad it was a dive mask not a leg or even worse the camera case. We then headed to the Charles Darwin Research Centre which is effectively a breeding programme for giant tortoises. Each island has an endemic sub-species of tortoise, or should I say had, many of them have been wiped out through man`s exploitation of the area in the early 19th century. You see, tortoises can go for up to a year without water or food and thus make great meat for boats with long passages around the world as they don`t really go off. The really sad part is that of one sub-species, Pinta, there is only one tortoise left. `Lonesome George`is now 90 years old and reaching his prime for mating but has so far shown no interest in the 3 introduced females whose genetics are most similar to his. Despite our egging him on he didn`t get his shell over when we were there either.
After lunch we headed up into the highlands where we saw some wild ginat tortoises, although it seems a little funny describing them as wild as although they lived in the wild they don`t exactly tear around at Mach 3. We went backl tot he boat via a huge lava tube which has collapsed in the past bringing down stones the size of a cow. We didn`t hang about in there for fear of further collapses...
Back on the boat we met up with our new found colleagues, 5 Canadians (2 French Canucks, 3 living in America now). Brent and Lisa and father Gary all now live out of Canada (Brent in Hawaii), Gary is a dentist so he and Jen swapped (or should that be swabbed?) info. The two French Canadians, Chantal and Marie Jose were really nice too although neither spoke amazing English so we had to resort to French (again) at times.
Onto Day 5, Floreana Island, which is to the south of the archilpeligo. Our dive at Enderby Rock was excellent, we saw a number of Galapagos Sharks (like reef sharks but bigger), rays and some wonderful little pufferfish. After the dive we headed onto the island, past the resident sealions and to a lagoon where we saw about 30 flamingoes, the brightest and purest shade of pink you could imagine. We were also fortunate to see (via binoculars) a nest with 5 chicks that were an ugly grey colour. After walking to the other side of the island we entered a bay where we managed to get up close to mating turtles, and I got soaked trying to get a photo of the rays that washed themselves up into about an inch of water on the beach. 3 Penguins also flaoted by and it was a magical half hour or so. Next up was a snorkel at Champion Rock whilst most others dived Enderby again (we decided to stick to a dive a day). It was wonderful! We saw 14 cownose rays in formation near the surface but the best bit was snorkelling with the sealions. 2 youngsters and their mother spent at least 10 minutes swimming towards us and playing before it was time to head back tot he boat. Although on land they are clumsier than a dog with no back legs (which is incidentally what they look like when they walk) in land they are so quick and graceful. Our last stop for the day was at Post Office Bbay where a barrell stands in which letters and postcards are deposited. The idea is to look for people who live nar you and then take your post back with you. We left a couple of postcards and checked for people in NW of England of which there were...none...here`s hoping some Mancunian turns up there one day and brings ours back! We finished the afternoon by watching the two boats` crews palying football which ended in a 1-1 draw.
Day 6 (Friday) meant Espanola, which is one of the best islands to visit. We were up and out by 6.20 and had landed on a beach, near the obligatory sealiuons some five minutes later. Our 2km circuit walk took us high up onto the cliffs and through colonies of masked boobies, repleat with either eggs, week old chiocks or slightly older fledglings. With a number of the nests built next to or on the paths we got a great opportunity to see everything close up - it was fantastic. After the boobies we walked through the resident waved albatross colony and their chicks. We were lucky enough to view the famed albatross dance where they made loiud noises before dancing as a pair and touching beaks...magical! The final area on the island was at the `airport` where we viewed all the different bird species flying, landing, tkaing off etc...
Our dive for the day was next - Gardners reef, and what`s more we saw our first hammerhead, some 3m (10 ft) long, and about 10m away. It was a real thrill, and coupled with the manta rays, sealions and other fish made it another memorable dive. We finished the day with a long sail north, but only after we had snorkelled with sealions and rays again...
Day 7 - yesterday, Santa Fe
Up and out early again we walked through a giant cactus forest (with some specemin over 200 years old and with trunks so thick you couldn`t get your arms round) before spotting a number of pallidus land iguanas. They were all yellow and black so I`ve renamed them the Cambridge United Land Iguana and they are subsequently my favourite animal in the world, amost, but at that point we hadn`t dived Gordon Rocks...and so to the dive site. To give you a bit of history about this site we found out about it from t`internet and booke dour whole trip to the Galapagos because Nemo dived there. With this in mind the change of itinery made it fitting we should dive there for our final dive. It is famous for a few things, the swirling currents, sometimes bad visibility, but mostly for it`s hammerheads, lots of them, and big buggers too by all accounts. So with a real sense of anticipation we donned our gear and dived in. Well the vis was good (about 10-12m) and the currents although bloody cold (my computer went from 23-19 degrees at one point) weren`t too strong...as for the sharks...well we saw one really early one, and it was huge, we estimated at around 3.5-4m. It then decided to circle us, about 5-7m away...and then promptly diappeared into the blue. We managed to circumnaviage the three pinnacles despite the strengthening currents before 2 eagles rays were spotted and the group followed them en masse. That is, the group except myself and Jen who decided to hang around near the back of the rock and see what was out there...oh my God did we have a shock at what we saw next...at least 20 hammerheads, some seemingly in feeding frenzy less than 10m away. A couple decided to check us out and came within a few metres. Our reaction was a mixture of shock, sheer jubilation, and adrenaline (there are over 1,000 unprovoked attacks by hammerheads on humans every year) as we spent a couple of minutes watching them swim off into the distance. There has never been a hammerhead attack on a diver in the Galapagos Archipeligo, it is thought that the abundance of fish means that they don`t need to supplement their diet with neopreme coated humans.
Arriving back at the boat we felt it was a real case of mission accomplished. The only animal we wanted to see that we hadn`t (apart from the red footed boobies that you have to go Genovesa in the North to see) was the frigatebird, the ones with the magnificent red balloon that they inflate to impress the ladies...we were promised those for this morning. I then managed to smack my head on the boom of the boat nearly knoicking myself out and giving myself a stonking headache. I muttered something ironic about knocking the wind out of my sails...
Our final trip of the day was to South Plaza Island where we saw more sealions (still not tiring of them though, they are so adorable, especially the pups), gulls, more land iguanas, and tropicbirds who have a distinctive long white, wispy tail.
Our dock for the night was near Seymore Island where we were up at 6am this morning for our final walk. First up we walked through a colony of blue footed boobies (and yes I did buy an `I love Boobies` t-shirt, when in Rome and all that) and then we saw the magnificent frigates, replete with red balloon and wing posturing to attract the ladies. The balloon itself takes 20 minutes to inflate and 10 to deflate and we saw some in various stages of pumped-up-ness. More land iguanas, and the three cutest and most inquisitve sealions yet followed before we headed back to Nemo.
Since then we have flown back to Quito and are now in two minds as whether to leave South America on a real high and head to Spain for a couple of weeks ro whether top head south to Banos and Cotopaxi. We are favouring the former as we`ve just had one of the best weeks of our lives and want to remember Ecuador by the Islands some 1,000km to the West of the mainland. We will, undoubtedly be back. We would like to visit the more far flung places, and do some more diving. Our week was truely on of the best of our lives, and we feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to see what we`ve seen and interact with nature in the best possible ways. We were both gutted to have to return to the mainland and arrive back in dreary old Quito.
After lunch we headed up into the highlands where we saw some wild ginat tortoises, although it seems a little funny describing them as wild as although they lived in the wild they don`t exactly tear around at Mach 3. We went backl tot he boat via a huge lava tube which has collapsed in the past bringing down stones the size of a cow. We didn`t hang about in there for fear of further collapses...
Back on the boat we met up with our new found colleagues, 5 Canadians (2 French Canucks, 3 living in America now). Brent and Lisa and father Gary all now live out of Canada (Brent in Hawaii), Gary is a dentist so he and Jen swapped (or should that be swabbed?) info. The two French Canadians, Chantal and Marie Jose were really nice too although neither spoke amazing English so we had to resort to French (again) at times.
Onto Day 5, Floreana Island, which is to the south of the archilpeligo. Our dive at Enderby Rock was excellent, we saw a number of Galapagos Sharks (like reef sharks but bigger), rays and some wonderful little pufferfish. After the dive we headed onto the island, past the resident sealions and to a lagoon where we saw about 30 flamingoes, the brightest and purest shade of pink you could imagine. We were also fortunate to see (via binoculars) a nest with 5 chicks that were an ugly grey colour. After walking to the other side of the island we entered a bay where we managed to get up close to mating turtles, and I got soaked trying to get a photo of the rays that washed themselves up into about an inch of water on the beach. 3 Penguins also flaoted by and it was a magical half hour or so. Next up was a snorkel at Champion Rock whilst most others dived Enderby again (we decided to stick to a dive a day). It was wonderful! We saw 14 cownose rays in formation near the surface but the best bit was snorkelling with the sealions. 2 youngsters and their mother spent at least 10 minutes swimming towards us and playing before it was time to head back tot he boat. Although on land they are clumsier than a dog with no back legs (which is incidentally what they look like when they walk) in land they are so quick and graceful. Our last stop for the day was at Post Office Bbay where a barrell stands in which letters and postcards are deposited. The idea is to look for people who live nar you and then take your post back with you. We left a couple of postcards and checked for people in NW of England of which there were...none...here`s hoping some Mancunian turns up there one day and brings ours back! We finished the afternoon by watching the two boats` crews palying football which ended in a 1-1 draw.
Day 6 (Friday) meant Espanola, which is one of the best islands to visit. We were up and out by 6.20 and had landed on a beach, near the obligatory sealiuons some five minutes later. Our 2km circuit walk took us high up onto the cliffs and through colonies of masked boobies, repleat with either eggs, week old chiocks or slightly older fledglings. With a number of the nests built next to or on the paths we got a great opportunity to see everything close up - it was fantastic. After the boobies we walked through the resident waved albatross colony and their chicks. We were lucky enough to view the famed albatross dance where they made loiud noises before dancing as a pair and touching beaks...magical! The final area on the island was at the `airport` where we viewed all the different bird species flying, landing, tkaing off etc...
Our dive for the day was next - Gardners reef, and what`s more we saw our first hammerhead, some 3m (10 ft) long, and about 10m away. It was a real thrill, and coupled with the manta rays, sealions and other fish made it another memorable dive. We finished the day with a long sail north, but only after we had snorkelled with sealions and rays again...
Day 7 - yesterday, Santa Fe
Up and out early again we walked through a giant cactus forest (with some specemin over 200 years old and with trunks so thick you couldn`t get your arms round) before spotting a number of pallidus land iguanas. They were all yellow and black so I`ve renamed them the Cambridge United Land Iguana and they are subsequently my favourite animal in the world, amost, but at that point we hadn`t dived Gordon Rocks...and so to the dive site. To give you a bit of history about this site we found out about it from t`internet and booke dour whole trip to the Galapagos because Nemo dived there. With this in mind the change of itinery made it fitting we should dive there for our final dive. It is famous for a few things, the swirling currents, sometimes bad visibility, but mostly for it`s hammerheads, lots of them, and big buggers too by all accounts. So with a real sense of anticipation we donned our gear and dived in. Well the vis was good (about 10-12m) and the currents although bloody cold (my computer went from 23-19 degrees at one point) weren`t too strong...as for the sharks...well we saw one really early one, and it was huge, we estimated at around 3.5-4m. It then decided to circle us, about 5-7m away...and then promptly diappeared into the blue. We managed to circumnaviage the three pinnacles despite the strengthening currents before 2 eagles rays were spotted and the group followed them en masse. That is, the group except myself and Jen who decided to hang around near the back of the rock and see what was out there...oh my God did we have a shock at what we saw next...at least 20 hammerheads, some seemingly in feeding frenzy less than 10m away. A couple decided to check us out and came within a few metres. Our reaction was a mixture of shock, sheer jubilation, and adrenaline (there are over 1,000 unprovoked attacks by hammerheads on humans every year) as we spent a couple of minutes watching them swim off into the distance. There has never been a hammerhead attack on a diver in the Galapagos Archipeligo, it is thought that the abundance of fish means that they don`t need to supplement their diet with neopreme coated humans.
Arriving back at the boat we felt it was a real case of mission accomplished. The only animal we wanted to see that we hadn`t (apart from the red footed boobies that you have to go Genovesa in the North to see) was the frigatebird, the ones with the magnificent red balloon that they inflate to impress the ladies...we were promised those for this morning. I then managed to smack my head on the boom of the boat nearly knoicking myself out and giving myself a stonking headache. I muttered something ironic about knocking the wind out of my sails...
Our final trip of the day was to South Plaza Island where we saw more sealions (still not tiring of them though, they are so adorable, especially the pups), gulls, more land iguanas, and tropicbirds who have a distinctive long white, wispy tail.
Our dock for the night was near Seymore Island where we were up at 6am this morning for our final walk. First up we walked through a colony of blue footed boobies (and yes I did buy an `I love Boobies` t-shirt, when in Rome and all that) and then we saw the magnificent frigates, replete with red balloon and wing posturing to attract the ladies. The balloon itself takes 20 minutes to inflate and 10 to deflate and we saw some in various stages of pumped-up-ness. More land iguanas, and the three cutest and most inquisitve sealions yet followed before we headed back to Nemo.
Since then we have flown back to Quito and are now in two minds as whether to leave South America on a real high and head to Spain for a couple of weeks ro whether top head south to Banos and Cotopaxi. We are favouring the former as we`ve just had one of the best weeks of our lives and want to remember Ecuador by the Islands some 1,000km to the West of the mainland. We will, undoubtedly be back. We would like to visit the more far flung places, and do some more diving. Our week was truely on of the best of our lives, and we feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to see what we`ve seen and interact with nature in the best possible ways. We were both gutted to have to return to the mainland and arrive back in dreary old Quito.
Wednesday, December 10, 2003
Who`d have ever thought that on islands famous for it`s flora and fauna they`d have t`internet. Well they have, XP too, and it`s bloody quick. So here we are, 3 days into our Galapagos experience. Rather than sum up how we`re feelign about it all now I will do that after a detailed run down of what we`ve done so far...
Day 1 - Sunday...First up was the change of venue, we flew to Cristobal not Baltra, due to the airport at Baltra being reaved or something. This meant we flew in a smaller Boeing 727-200 not the lovely snazzy new Airbus that TAME have. This plane was so old and decripid it`s previous owner was Istanbul Airlines (WHO?)...having said that we arrived safely so enough said...
At the airport there was a big sign stating the things you couldn`t bring onto the islands...soil, live animals, VACCINES... so with a lump in our throat when asked we said we were carrying medicine which is true I guess and they let us in...
We were greeted at the airport by Walter, a Galapagos resident, who was to be our guide for the 8 days. To our relief he spoke good English. To our further relief we were told that there were only 7 of us booked onto the trip for the first 4 days (5 more are joining us tomorrow to make a full boat of 12), and we were then introduced to 3 of them. Emma and George are newlyweds from somewhere near London (or was it West London, can`t remember) - George originally comes from up north. Both are IT consultants but we didn`t hold that against them. Pilar (anyone remember Eldorado - well she looks nothing like THAT Pilar...) hails from Madrid, and she`s told us where to go and where to avoid at Xmas. The two others, who had arrived a couple of days earlier to do some diving, were a Swiss couple, Erica and Chris, who have been in South America for about 14 months driving around in a Toyota Landcruiser that Chris souped up into a kind of weird campervan and then shipped over to Buenos Aires. He also works in IT so for once I`m not the biggest nerd in the group...all are really nice and we seem to be getting on pretty well.
After sorting our cabins out (double bed, hot shower, wardrobe (!)) we hung around on the ship for a while before heading back to Cristobal Island for our first look at the wildlife. Our bus dropped us at a beach and we saw a sealion colony of about 30-40 just doing their thing, except these were different to all the other seals/sealions we have seen in that they didn`t react to humans. Usually they will hiss and try to scare you away if you come within a few yards but not these guys, they just sat there doing their normal stuff, babies suckling, others playing in the sea. We also saw marine iguanas which are indemic to the Galapagos Islands, in fact they do not exist anywhere else in the world and help prove Darwin`s evolution theories. The have basically had a need over time to swim and have thus developed tails and a breathing system that allows them to do it. There were tens of them and although really ugly they posed more than happily for photos. Now Walter, our guide, has a laptop with him which has XP (yay), and also writes CDs (double yay) so we`ve gone photo crazy, but not as mad as Chris who has a really nice camera - to date he`s taken over 800 photos!!!! We finished the day with a check dive, which made up my mind that there was no way on earth I was going to dive with a hood on...
Day 2 (Monday) started with an early dive at Cousin Rocks, where we saw 4 sharks, a couple of marbled stingrays, and a turtle, amongst others. The highlight though was undoubtedly getting checked out by the sealions who then whizzed around us performing barrell rolls just for the camera! On Bartolomè island we took a long walk to the top, via a boardwalk where we got a good view of the surrounding bays. Hopping back in our dinghy we managed to find the rare Galapagos penguin posing on a rock, before we donned our snorkelling gear and went for a dip with the playful sealions.
After an amazing lunch (our chef is one of those amazing people who you just don`t notice but he makes the most amazing food on his own in a kitchen the size of a small toilet cubicle) we headed to Santiago Island, to Puerto Egas to be exact. This was probably the highlight for me so far...although it didn`t start too well. We landed on another beach with another sealion contingent (they are everywhere, in the ports they even sleep on the boats!), which had the saddest little sealion who looked malnourished. Walter explained that his mother had wither died, or abandoned him due to him being touched by humans. The smell of people on fur leads the mother to throw the kid out on the sand (as it were) and effectively leave it to die. Walter said there was nothing anyone could do, and the pup would be dead within weeks. It was really sad, but again evidence of survival of the fittest, kind of, or at least evidence of how man manages to bugger everything up...
Onwards and upwards though to more lava-y landscapes, and more marine iguanas, so numerous and so camoflaged on the rocks that we nearly stepped on a few, playing sealions, and hundreds of crabs. We sat and watched nature at play for about an hour, 2 sealion males fighting over territory, 2 others chasing an iguana and then playfully biting it`s tail, crabs trying to avoid the passing birds...before visiting the fur seal colony that is also on this island. We also saw a canary, an oystercatcher, and many many pelicans. We sailed onto Rabida, arriving just before midnight.
This morning we headed to Rabida where there is a red beach full of sealions (surprise eh?) where we walked to the top of a hill before skirting around the edge of the island. We saw a couple of mating turtles, the female definitely getting the raw deal, not only was she nearly drowning but she had to provide all the flipperage to stay afloat whilst the male was using his flippers to get a better grip...we also saw the bachelor sealion beach where all the deposed males go to get fat and then mount a challenge to the other males who previously deposed them. No bar or cable TV though.
Our 2nd dive (at Beagle Rock) followed, and despite seeing a Manta Ray (from afar) it was a bit of a disappointment, a bit currenty and poor vis, and also Jen`s mask kept flooding for no apparent reason. The dinghy ride afterwards, through the mangroves on Cerra Dragon, was excellent however, adn we got fleeting glimpses of sharks and rays in the clear water. The best bit though was getting close to the blue-footed boobies which have bright blue feet (never I hear you cry!). They are mean divers though and we got to see a couple plunging into the drink for their lunch.
And here we are...after a five hour boat trip that nearly saw us seeing our lunch again (it`s getting a bit rough currently). Jen gave me my 4th injection (a rabies jab on the day we visited isla rabida - nice irony!) and we`re just about to head back to the boat for the remaining 4 1/2 days. To sum it all up so far for me it`s been amazing, yes some of the wildlife is a bit similar but we still go all gooey eyed at the sight of a seal pup, and diving with them is just incredible, a unique experience. There is enough variety in the islands, although all volcanic they have different hues, and fauna. Jen is getting abit cabin feaverish but is enjoying it too. Hopefully the 5 that join tomorrow won`t be like the gourp of Americans on the other boat whose itinery is the same as ours...obnoxious, hilarious dress sense, and no observing of the 2 metre rule (that`s how close you can get to the animals)...
Day 1 - Sunday...First up was the change of venue, we flew to Cristobal not Baltra, due to the airport at Baltra being reaved or something. This meant we flew in a smaller Boeing 727-200 not the lovely snazzy new Airbus that TAME have. This plane was so old and decripid it`s previous owner was Istanbul Airlines (WHO?)...having said that we arrived safely so enough said...
At the airport there was a big sign stating the things you couldn`t bring onto the islands...soil, live animals, VACCINES... so with a lump in our throat when asked we said we were carrying medicine which is true I guess and they let us in...
We were greeted at the airport by Walter, a Galapagos resident, who was to be our guide for the 8 days. To our relief he spoke good English. To our further relief we were told that there were only 7 of us booked onto the trip for the first 4 days (5 more are joining us tomorrow to make a full boat of 12), and we were then introduced to 3 of them. Emma and George are newlyweds from somewhere near London (or was it West London, can`t remember) - George originally comes from up north. Both are IT consultants but we didn`t hold that against them. Pilar (anyone remember Eldorado - well she looks nothing like THAT Pilar...) hails from Madrid, and she`s told us where to go and where to avoid at Xmas. The two others, who had arrived a couple of days earlier to do some diving, were a Swiss couple, Erica and Chris, who have been in South America for about 14 months driving around in a Toyota Landcruiser that Chris souped up into a kind of weird campervan and then shipped over to Buenos Aires. He also works in IT so for once I`m not the biggest nerd in the group...all are really nice and we seem to be getting on pretty well.
After sorting our cabins out (double bed, hot shower, wardrobe (!)) we hung around on the ship for a while before heading back to Cristobal Island for our first look at the wildlife. Our bus dropped us at a beach and we saw a sealion colony of about 30-40 just doing their thing, except these were different to all the other seals/sealions we have seen in that they didn`t react to humans. Usually they will hiss and try to scare you away if you come within a few yards but not these guys, they just sat there doing their normal stuff, babies suckling, others playing in the sea. We also saw marine iguanas which are indemic to the Galapagos Islands, in fact they do not exist anywhere else in the world and help prove Darwin`s evolution theories. The have basically had a need over time to swim and have thus developed tails and a breathing system that allows them to do it. There were tens of them and although really ugly they posed more than happily for photos. Now Walter, our guide, has a laptop with him which has XP (yay), and also writes CDs (double yay) so we`ve gone photo crazy, but not as mad as Chris who has a really nice camera - to date he`s taken over 800 photos!!!! We finished the day with a check dive, which made up my mind that there was no way on earth I was going to dive with a hood on...
Day 2 (Monday) started with an early dive at Cousin Rocks, where we saw 4 sharks, a couple of marbled stingrays, and a turtle, amongst others. The highlight though was undoubtedly getting checked out by the sealions who then whizzed around us performing barrell rolls just for the camera! On Bartolomè island we took a long walk to the top, via a boardwalk where we got a good view of the surrounding bays. Hopping back in our dinghy we managed to find the rare Galapagos penguin posing on a rock, before we donned our snorkelling gear and went for a dip with the playful sealions.
After an amazing lunch (our chef is one of those amazing people who you just don`t notice but he makes the most amazing food on his own in a kitchen the size of a small toilet cubicle) we headed to Santiago Island, to Puerto Egas to be exact. This was probably the highlight for me so far...although it didn`t start too well. We landed on another beach with another sealion contingent (they are everywhere, in the ports they even sleep on the boats!), which had the saddest little sealion who looked malnourished. Walter explained that his mother had wither died, or abandoned him due to him being touched by humans. The smell of people on fur leads the mother to throw the kid out on the sand (as it were) and effectively leave it to die. Walter said there was nothing anyone could do, and the pup would be dead within weeks. It was really sad, but again evidence of survival of the fittest, kind of, or at least evidence of how man manages to bugger everything up...
Onwards and upwards though to more lava-y landscapes, and more marine iguanas, so numerous and so camoflaged on the rocks that we nearly stepped on a few, playing sealions, and hundreds of crabs. We sat and watched nature at play for about an hour, 2 sealion males fighting over territory, 2 others chasing an iguana and then playfully biting it`s tail, crabs trying to avoid the passing birds...before visiting the fur seal colony that is also on this island. We also saw a canary, an oystercatcher, and many many pelicans. We sailed onto Rabida, arriving just before midnight.
This morning we headed to Rabida where there is a red beach full of sealions (surprise eh?) where we walked to the top of a hill before skirting around the edge of the island. We saw a couple of mating turtles, the female definitely getting the raw deal, not only was she nearly drowning but she had to provide all the flipperage to stay afloat whilst the male was using his flippers to get a better grip...we also saw the bachelor sealion beach where all the deposed males go to get fat and then mount a challenge to the other males who previously deposed them. No bar or cable TV though.
Our 2nd dive (at Beagle Rock) followed, and despite seeing a Manta Ray (from afar) it was a bit of a disappointment, a bit currenty and poor vis, and also Jen`s mask kept flooding for no apparent reason. The dinghy ride afterwards, through the mangroves on Cerra Dragon, was excellent however, adn we got fleeting glimpses of sharks and rays in the clear water. The best bit though was getting close to the blue-footed boobies which have bright blue feet (never I hear you cry!). They are mean divers though and we got to see a couple plunging into the drink for their lunch.
And here we are...after a five hour boat trip that nearly saw us seeing our lunch again (it`s getting a bit rough currently). Jen gave me my 4th injection (a rabies jab on the day we visited isla rabida - nice irony!) and we`re just about to head back to the boat for the remaining 4 1/2 days. To sum it all up so far for me it`s been amazing, yes some of the wildlife is a bit similar but we still go all gooey eyed at the sight of a seal pup, and diving with them is just incredible, a unique experience. There is enough variety in the islands, although all volcanic they have different hues, and fauna. Jen is getting abit cabin feaverish but is enjoying it too. Hopefully the 5 that join tomorrow won`t be like the gourp of Americans on the other boat whose itinery is the same as ours...obnoxious, hilarious dress sense, and no observing of the 2 metre rule (that`s how close you can get to the animals)...
Saturday, December 06, 2003
OK so this is it, here we sit in Quito again, just about to do another Lonely Planet walking tour. I have rather stupidly left the driver disk for my X Drive in an internet cafe so we`ve got to hang around a bit and wait for it to open (we`re in one across the road). We will not be on email now until at least Wednesday and probably not until next Sunday in all honesty as the Galapagos is omne of th eplaces still lacking in I/Cafes (Thank God!!)
Friday, December 05, 2003
Quito is another place that gets a bad rap (see Nazca, Peru). OK so it`s a big place and busstly, with a few scary people but it`s got a real buzz to it, especially with it being Quito day tomorrow... We have spent the afternoon wandering, buying books on the Galapagos (we are even more excited now than at 2.57pm when I wrote earlier) and people watching. The party buses continue by the way...many more with many more people, it can`t be long until the first serious accident...
Ok so I write something positive about an airline and then they break down on the runway and we´re stranded in Santiago for 2 hours...ho hum. Well anyway we´ve arrived in Quito and appeared to have landed on our feet in a big way. We were picked up by a really nice chap who is the great-nephew of the lady we are staying with, whose daughter owns the travel agency we´ve booked the Galapagos with. Confused about family ties, well we were until she got the photos out over brekkie and explained who everyone is. Her house is beautiful, we have cable, our own bathroom, own tabel and chairs and fridge, it´s like living in a palace...we found out this morning that her husband (who died 5 years ago) was a consul/diplomat, hence the beautiful house, furniture and surroundings. We managed to ascertain that they spent a few years in Paris, and thus we have found a mutual language, although mine is rustier than hers...
We met up with Latin-Tours today and any fears we had (very minor) were immediately expunged, they are so friendly. The boat looks even more amazing in their brochure than it does online...to say we are excited would be an understatement...
Just spending the day relaxing and wandering around Quito. They are in the middle of their biggest festival of the year here so it gets to be a ´lock your daughter up´scenario at night apaprently. There are loads of people going round on big ´party´ buses. I hoipe the driver isn´t as pissed as the passengers. They were already leathered at 11 this morning...
We met up with Latin-Tours today and any fears we had (very minor) were immediately expunged, they are so friendly. The boat looks even more amazing in their brochure than it does online...to say we are excited would be an understatement...
Just spending the day relaxing and wandering around Quito. They are in the middle of their biggest festival of the year here so it gets to be a ´lock your daughter up´scenario at night apaprently. There are loads of people going round on big ´party´ buses. I hoipe the driver isn´t as pissed as the passengers. They were already leathered at 11 this morning...
Thursday, December 04, 2003
OK, picture this, you[re at an official BCP desk (one of the biggest banks in Peru), and you are waiting patiently in line to pay your airport tax (what exactly does this 28 dollars a person go towards other than propping up the Peruvian economy?) and then your time comes. You have a few left over Soles (local currency) so ask to pay in Soles. You give the guy 250 Soles as you think roughly that should cover it and he gives you about 30 Soles change. Fine so far except than when you ask for a receipt you see you should have only paid 200 Soles and he's basically pocketed the other 20. You kick up a fuss and he eventually gives you your money back. CORRUPT OR WHAT? It wasn't just the fact that he did it, it was the way he took the Soles off me, to start with I wasn't even sure if I gave him 250 or 300, he just ssaid 'that should cover it'...a sour note to leave on really but there you have it. Peru is full of wonderful places, and mostly fantastic people, but, just as in parts of SEA, people still see tourists as easy prey for rip-offs, and it begins to wear you down. We're more than ready for Ecuador (although we've heard even worse reports here...)
Wednesday, December 03, 2003
Why is it as soon as I don´t write anything for a few days people think I must be in some sort of danger...not like I was bitten by some flea eared mutt and then disappeared or anything.
So, we´re back from the jungle, and apart from the fact I´ve had Guns ´n´ Roses going round my head for the last 4 days (Welcome to the jungle We've got fun 'n' games We got everything you want Honey, we know the names - ad infinitum arghhhhhhhhhhhh!) On the whole it´s been great fun
On the evening before we left we picked up my rabies jabs and some sort of cooling container (that is supposed to keep everything cool for about 12 hours - it only manages about 6/7...), and then went for a great meal at Fallen Angel, kind of a bar cum restaurant cum club with some of the weirdest toilets (think broken mirrors and barb-wire) and tables (glass topped baths filled with water and fish...)...but the food was great.
So off to the Amazon, 30 minutes to Puerto Maldonado in an (Sc)Aero Continente plane from the dark ages. After arrival at PM we headed into the jungle by thatched bus (I kid you not) and boat. We made it to the lodge around 2pm. Each room at Pasada Amazonas has it´s own bathroom, cold shower et al, but no wall on one side so you can really feel at one with nature. At about 3am each morning we were woken up by the eerie sound of howler monkeys doing their thing (howling I guess). It was unique, I´ll give it that. Our guide, Tito - from Lima, was excellent and it was he who took care of us for our stay, waking us up at stupid o´clock (4am on 2 out of 3 mornings), and taking us on many excursions. On the first faternoon we headed to the observation tower, which is some 37m (120 ft) high and gives you a great panoramic view of the surrounding forest. We saw a couple of macaws and just generally took in the view before arriving back at the centre in time for tea. We had a bit of a saga with my medicine, the barman moving it from the fridge (his fridge) and leaving it on the side...we hope we got it back in before it got too cold...only time will tell I guess.
So to day 2, and up at 4...by 4.30 we were on aboat up river to a nearby Ox-bow lake. In this lake live a family of giant river otteers, and we were fortunate enough to get a glimpse albeit from a hundred metres away. Posada Amazonas has entered into a partnership with the local community aimed at preserving the natural area and has taken a commitment to view wildlife in such a way that it doesn´t interfere witht the animals themselves...unlike another lodge whose group came whizzing past, causing the otters to disperse and then blocking the rout eback to their nest, much to the fury of all on our boat. Eventually they retreated but the otters were not to be seen again.
Whilst on the boat a chap was filming for a program called ´World Report´ which airs in the US. We did our best point and look at the otters routine for him so I might be on 2 TV progs in a week or so!! On the way back to the river one of the guides managed to catch a yellow-bellied piranha and demonstrated how sharp it´s teeth were by putting something in it´s mouth...eeek, glad we didn´t fall in.
In the afternoon we visited a local shamen (no veras, or e´s for that matter) called Don Jose who took us round the tribe´s medicinal garden. We chewed on an anaesthetic plant, and rolled something or other around in our fingers until they turned purple but none of us sampled the Para Para plant. ´Para Para´means ´stand-up, stand up´...the plant being their version of viagara...
Just towards the end of the trip it started to rain ( - properly, think cats and dogs and then chuck in a few giraffes, hippos and elephants) and Richard was about 2 metres away from getting squashed by a falling branch...nonetheless, despite arriving back soggier than an incontinent babies nappy, we had had a good afternoon.
We also managed to go on a night walk where, apart from a few insects, one laying eggs, we saw bugger all....well it was dark I suppose...
So to the final full day and another early start to get to the macaw lick. We had watched a wildlife on 1 episode filmed at PA the previous evening (God it was so good to hear David Attenborough) and it had whetted our appetite. Now macaws eat alot of seeds and, due to the toxins in these seeds, they also eat clay, which apparently couteracts these toxins. I couldn´t help thinking wouldn´t it just be a whole lot easier if they just ate, say, Big Macs, but then remembered we were in the jungle, and Ronald was not to be seen for a few hundred miles...
Well we didn´t have the best of luck...the macaws didn´t show early in the morning, and when Tito organised an additional trip for us later on that morning (at 8.30!!) we could hear them but not see them, they stayed high in the trees as they obviously didn´t fancy clay for lunch (but then who would?)
Tito would not be defeated however, and he dragged us to a Parakeet lick just after lunch where we were treated to a cacophony of noise and clay-eating the likes you´ve never seen. For a full half hour 300+ cobalt parakeets dined on the finest clay, screeched and flew as if there was no tomorrow. The fun finished about as quickly as it started, and dead on the dot of 3 they all flew off, seemingly startled by something (bet it was those bloody monkeys again...).
We headed off to the Kapok tree, some 400 years old, and ´the grandfather of the forest´, it was, again, very humbling to see something of this beauty and age. On route we passed a group of termites that had built it´s nest way up in a tree´s canapy, complete with a tunnell (on the outside of the tree) they had made from ´saliva, faeces, and dirt´, or ´spit, shit and grit´ to you and me... Just a little bit of fun left for the afternoon as I provided much hilarity doing a Tarzan and swinging on a vine. It held though, proving just how bloody strong they are, and if it´s good enough for Jonny Weismuller it´s good enough for me....
Tito spent the evening explaining how the project between PA and the local community worked. Many guides used to be barmen, the barmen used to be porters etc...and also explained how it is hoped that the whole lodge will be handed to the community within 15 years (they have already made an undertaking to that effect), lock stock and barrell, when it is hoped they will be better versed in how to run an eco-lodge.
This morning we got up late (6.30) and have now safely arrived back in Lima. The trip was great, although we were a little disappointed not to see more wildlife. Some of the wildlife we definitely missed were all the bugs that bit us, we now sport between 30-50 bites betweeen us despite wearing long shirts/trousers (tucked into our socks, we looked like cyclists for 3 days) and insect repellent. We did see a guy today who must have had more than a hundred bites on each leg so I guess you could say we were lucky.
Tomorrow we´re flying to Quito, Ecuador, which is only about 1,500 miles as the corw flies from here...the only problem is that we have to connect in Santiago as there are no direct flights using our RTW tickets...this not only means an extra 9/10 hours in the air but the prospect of the same airplane food twice in one day...
When in Quito we´ve got a couple of days to hvae a look round and hopefully get up to the middle of the world (it´s basically the equator guys...) where you can stand with one foot in each hemisphere, and as you know we never miss a photo op like that...off to the Galapagos in 4 days, really can´t wait now!
So, we´re back from the jungle, and apart from the fact I´ve had Guns ´n´ Roses going round my head for the last 4 days (Welcome to the jungle We've got fun 'n' games We got everything you want Honey, we know the names - ad infinitum arghhhhhhhhhhhh!) On the whole it´s been great fun
On the evening before we left we picked up my rabies jabs and some sort of cooling container (that is supposed to keep everything cool for about 12 hours - it only manages about 6/7...), and then went for a great meal at Fallen Angel, kind of a bar cum restaurant cum club with some of the weirdest toilets (think broken mirrors and barb-wire) and tables (glass topped baths filled with water and fish...)...but the food was great.
So off to the Amazon, 30 minutes to Puerto Maldonado in an (Sc)Aero Continente plane from the dark ages. After arrival at PM we headed into the jungle by thatched bus (I kid you not) and boat. We made it to the lodge around 2pm. Each room at Pasada Amazonas has it´s own bathroom, cold shower et al, but no wall on one side so you can really feel at one with nature. At about 3am each morning we were woken up by the eerie sound of howler monkeys doing their thing (howling I guess). It was unique, I´ll give it that. Our guide, Tito - from Lima, was excellent and it was he who took care of us for our stay, waking us up at stupid o´clock (4am on 2 out of 3 mornings), and taking us on many excursions. On the first faternoon we headed to the observation tower, which is some 37m (120 ft) high and gives you a great panoramic view of the surrounding forest. We saw a couple of macaws and just generally took in the view before arriving back at the centre in time for tea. We had a bit of a saga with my medicine, the barman moving it from the fridge (his fridge) and leaving it on the side...we hope we got it back in before it got too cold...only time will tell I guess.
So to day 2, and up at 4...by 4.30 we were on aboat up river to a nearby Ox-bow lake. In this lake live a family of giant river otteers, and we were fortunate enough to get a glimpse albeit from a hundred metres away. Posada Amazonas has entered into a partnership with the local community aimed at preserving the natural area and has taken a commitment to view wildlife in such a way that it doesn´t interfere witht the animals themselves...unlike another lodge whose group came whizzing past, causing the otters to disperse and then blocking the rout eback to their nest, much to the fury of all on our boat. Eventually they retreated but the otters were not to be seen again.
Whilst on the boat a chap was filming for a program called ´World Report´ which airs in the US. We did our best point and look at the otters routine for him so I might be on 2 TV progs in a week or so!! On the way back to the river one of the guides managed to catch a yellow-bellied piranha and demonstrated how sharp it´s teeth were by putting something in it´s mouth...eeek, glad we didn´t fall in.
In the afternoon we visited a local shamen (no veras, or e´s for that matter) called Don Jose who took us round the tribe´s medicinal garden. We chewed on an anaesthetic plant, and rolled something or other around in our fingers until they turned purple but none of us sampled the Para Para plant. ´Para Para´means ´stand-up, stand up´...the plant being their version of viagara...
Just towards the end of the trip it started to rain ( - properly, think cats and dogs and then chuck in a few giraffes, hippos and elephants) and Richard was about 2 metres away from getting squashed by a falling branch...nonetheless, despite arriving back soggier than an incontinent babies nappy, we had had a good afternoon.
We also managed to go on a night walk where, apart from a few insects, one laying eggs, we saw bugger all....well it was dark I suppose...
So to the final full day and another early start to get to the macaw lick. We had watched a wildlife on 1 episode filmed at PA the previous evening (God it was so good to hear David Attenborough) and it had whetted our appetite. Now macaws eat alot of seeds and, due to the toxins in these seeds, they also eat clay, which apparently couteracts these toxins. I couldn´t help thinking wouldn´t it just be a whole lot easier if they just ate, say, Big Macs, but then remembered we were in the jungle, and Ronald was not to be seen for a few hundred miles...
Well we didn´t have the best of luck...the macaws didn´t show early in the morning, and when Tito organised an additional trip for us later on that morning (at 8.30!!) we could hear them but not see them, they stayed high in the trees as they obviously didn´t fancy clay for lunch (but then who would?)
Tito would not be defeated however, and he dragged us to a Parakeet lick just after lunch where we were treated to a cacophony of noise and clay-eating the likes you´ve never seen. For a full half hour 300+ cobalt parakeets dined on the finest clay, screeched and flew as if there was no tomorrow. The fun finished about as quickly as it started, and dead on the dot of 3 they all flew off, seemingly startled by something (bet it was those bloody monkeys again...).
We headed off to the Kapok tree, some 400 years old, and ´the grandfather of the forest´, it was, again, very humbling to see something of this beauty and age. On route we passed a group of termites that had built it´s nest way up in a tree´s canapy, complete with a tunnell (on the outside of the tree) they had made from ´saliva, faeces, and dirt´, or ´spit, shit and grit´ to you and me... Just a little bit of fun left for the afternoon as I provided much hilarity doing a Tarzan and swinging on a vine. It held though, proving just how bloody strong they are, and if it´s good enough for Jonny Weismuller it´s good enough for me....
Tito spent the evening explaining how the project between PA and the local community worked. Many guides used to be barmen, the barmen used to be porters etc...and also explained how it is hoped that the whole lodge will be handed to the community within 15 years (they have already made an undertaking to that effect), lock stock and barrell, when it is hoped they will be better versed in how to run an eco-lodge.
This morning we got up late (6.30) and have now safely arrived back in Lima. The trip was great, although we were a little disappointed not to see more wildlife. Some of the wildlife we definitely missed were all the bugs that bit us, we now sport between 30-50 bites betweeen us despite wearing long shirts/trousers (tucked into our socks, we looked like cyclists for 3 days) and insect repellent. We did see a guy today who must have had more than a hundred bites on each leg so I guess you could say we were lucky.
Tomorrow we´re flying to Quito, Ecuador, which is only about 1,500 miles as the corw flies from here...the only problem is that we have to connect in Santiago as there are no direct flights using our RTW tickets...this not only means an extra 9/10 hours in the air but the prospect of the same airplane food twice in one day...
When in Quito we´ve got a couple of days to hvae a look round and hopefully get up to the middle of the world (it´s basically the equator guys...) where you can stand with one foot in each hemisphere, and as you know we never miss a photo op like that...off to the Galapagos in 4 days, really can´t wait now!